


Lost & Found

by keeperofhounds



Series: Lost & Found [1]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Adopted AU, Brothers AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:48:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23039599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keeperofhounds/pseuds/keeperofhounds
Summary: We all know how the original story started. We all know how it ended too. Let’s see an alternate take if Eugene were to have been adopted rather than being alone for most of his life.
Relationships: Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Series: Lost & Found [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655788
Comments: 27
Kudos: 133





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I got a new story that I’ve worked on for a little while. I don’t own Tangled this is a fan work not for profit.  
> Special thanks to my beta reader @rachelbethhines and special thanks to Varian 66 on Discord for their part in developing this story.

Flynn Rider felt stones settle in his stomach as he jumped the castle roof. This was wrong so very wrong. Never mind the fact the people he was working with literally threatened him. If it weren’t for that then he wouldn’t even be here. Working to steal a crown of a missing princess whose parents were obviously still grieving.

He looked over at the view provided by the high royal tower seeing the green hills and dense forests he wondered if he could see home if he went a little higher. Flynn Rider may be a no-good thief but even he had some standards when it came to thieving. It also didn’t hurt he had a healthy amount of loyalty to the kingdom instilled in him. Corona was the only kingdom in all the seven kingdoms where he wasn’t wanted for his exploits. It was also the one place he always went back to.

One of his “partners” shoved his shoulder to grab Flynn’s attention, “Hey Rider don’t forget why you're here.”

The thief tried not to glare or show any of his contempt to the pair of brothers watching him, “Come on when am I ever going to get a view like this in another place in Corona.”

The brothers didn’t seem to believe him but left him alone as they got ready for the heist of this kingdoms century. As Flynn watched them pull out the supplies he couldn’t help but admit he was a bit impressed with the Stabbingtons. They were a bit on the stupid side and were more often than not plain goons for better thieves such as himself. The pair were the classic losers who usually got caught whenever a heist got hairy but like roaches, they seemed to always find a way.

Patchy and Sideburns were not ones to mess with when it came to serious crime though. Although while Flynn doubted that they would be able to follow through with their threats he wasn’t willing to risk it either. A lot can go wrong and it was better if he just dealt with them before they had the chance to follow through. Flynn Rider already had plenty of ideas to get rid of them.

“Guys I want a castle,” Flynn said, watching the view.

Sideburns sneered, “Get this job done and it might just happen.”

Patchy grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and securely tied him to the rope. Looking at the floor Flynn saw the sheer amount of guards in the area. Although with how open the space between them and the crown was snatching the crown was going to be a piece of cake. As the Sabbingtons slowly lowered Flynn towards the crown he kept still in an x-formation to keep from swinging too much. He didn’t want to get caught besides his reservations he had a reputation to uphold.

As he was lowered he slowly reached one hand towards the crown while the other held the satchel. None of the royal guards noticed him yet. That’s when he froze at the sound of one of them sneezing. Perfect.

“Oh, hay fever.”

The guard sniffed, not realizing the current situation, “Yeah.”

Flynn had already been rushing out of the skylight, ignoring the cries of stop and wait from the guards. The group of thieves were quick when making their escape running and jumping off the castle roofs. By the time the guards were forming search parties the thieves were already over the bridge and out of the capital. With Flynn making endless commentary at the expense of the guards.

“Can you guys imagine me in a castle? Because I certainly can!” the man cried, holding his satchel up in victory. “Gentlemen this is a very big day!”

The brothers ignored him keeping focus on escaping with their prize. As they headed deeper and deeper into the woods Flynn started to worry, what if they did escape? The worst-case scenario was that the Stabbingtons take the crown and Flynn becomes wanted in Corona. He didn’t want to think about the implications of such a change. It was a good thing everyone thought of him as nothing but a daring pretty boy. It was time to turn up the pretty boy act.

Flynn started gasping for air, placing a hand on a tree to lean against, “Wow, you guys are really in shape.”

Sideburns stared at him annoyed, “Keep running Rider.”

The man was about too when his eyes caught the sight of their wanted poster. This time he didn’t even try to pretend, “Oh, come on your wanted poster is perfect, but nobody can get my nose right. Seriously?”

Horses blared at the distance catching their attention. The royal guard were getting closer and they weren’t far off. In fact, the guards had caught a glimpse of the pair from the nearby cliff.

Running as fast as they could jumping stones and slapping stray tree branches the group ran and ran until they were forced to stop. It was a dead end. Individually, there was no way anyone of them could scale the height on their own without being given a boost. There wouldn’t be enough time and all of them would only get caught. It was just the thought Flynn had after placing his hand on the dead end and turning to the brothers.

“Alright, okay give me a boost and I’ll pull you up.” Flynn bargained, it was a lie of course, why would he even help the guys who threatened him?  
The Stabbingtons shared a look clearly not believing Flynn’s words. Smart choice.

Sideburns held his hand out, “Give us the satchel first.”

Flynn gasped in fake shock and surprise, “I just, I can’t believe that after all, we’ve been through together that you don’t trust me?”

They only gave him dead looks and silence as they rightly so suspected what his plans were. They have been with him long enough to know how Flynn played the game and they weren’t stupid either. The current partnership they had was doomed to fail from the start, it was based on blackmail and threats. No honor among thieves.

“Owe,” Flynn said, mirroring their dead-eyed look but handing the satchel over to prevent an argument, the sooner he got over the obstacle the sooner he could ditch them.

With teamwork that could happen between brothers, the Stabbingtons made a makeshift ladder with their bodies. Patchy held the feet of his brother while Sideburns was on his shoulders pushing Flynn over the cliff with great difficulty. Flynn, on the other hand, climbed both brothers carelessly even using Sideburn's face as a stepping stool towards the top.

Flynn looked down at the duo from his perch innocently, it looks like neither had noticed they were missing something very important.

“Now help us up pretty boy,” Sideburns ordered, holding his hand out expectantly. Waiting for a hand that wouldn’t be grabbing back.

Flynn took great pleasure in his next actions, “Sorry,” He said, showing off the satchel he snagged while they were distracted, “my hands are full.” Before dashing off deeper into the forest.

The shout that echoed would be embedded in Flynn Rider’s memories for years to come. Now all he had to do was outrun the other people chasing him, easy right?


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn Rider gets an unexpected encounter.

Turns out outrunning the royal guard wasn’t as easy as he thought. It wasn’t even the guards that were Flynn’s biggest problem, it was the damn horse. That horse made him really work for that escape. The ridiculousness of the entire situation would be a good story to tell later on though. He at least knew one person who would get a laugh out of the entire thing.

Once he and the horse fell off the cliff when the branch broke, the thief took the opportunity to get out of the beasts sight. Doing his best to avoid catching the stubborn horse's attention Flynn stumbled along the side of boulders covered in overgrowth. Placing his hand over the overgrowth the thief attempted to regain his footing only for his hand to meet nothing but air. Surprised Flynn almost fell through the opening before catching himself.

Moving the overgrowth to the side Flynn saw an unused path in a dark tunnel. He didn’t think it would hide him from the superior sense of smell of a horse, but at this point the man was desperate. Stumbling through the overgrowth and cringing at the amount of noise his boots made on the forest floor. Flynn leaned against the wall of the tunnel holding his breath as the shadow of the horse stalked towards his hiding place.

Flynn froze when the shadow of the horse placed his nose on the floor hoping to find him. Those tense moments seemed to last forever before the shadow snorted stalking away from the hidden tunnel. Flynn didn’t move, he needed to be absolutely sure the threat was gone.

Backing away and slowly gaining confidence that the horse was long gone. Flynn ran from the tunnel entrance not believing his luck the horse should have been able to smell him but maybe the plants were able to hide his scent. He had been told that some plants had really strong scents it’s what he used when avoiding guard dogs, whatever the case if that horse didn’t find him then no one was going to.

Once he was out of the tunnel Flynn found himself in a clearing with green grass and many wildflowers growing without restraint. There were no worn trails leading in or out along the grass and the tower at the center looked abandoned. Although it looked lonely and gloomy with the lack of sun shining within the area not that Flynn had any reason to be picky. It was the perfect place for someone like him to hide out.

Staring up at the tower he could feel the strands of a plan forming within his mind. 

Flynn Rider would like to say that, that was the end of his story. That he scaled the tower to find it deserted returned the crown with his impeccable skills and ran off into the sun set for his next great adventure. Yes, in Flynn Rider’s perfect life all of this would have happened, but life doesn’t really work that way and it’s never perfect. For the record Flynn would like everyone to know that he was no amateur, but after being threatened, chased, and exhausted from climbing a tower it was only natural that someone finally got the drop on him.

Which is how he found himself shouting awake after feeling something soggy thrown into his ear, honestly it felt like a wet willy. Tied to a chair with the strangest rope imaginable, human hair. It wasn’t even cut it was all long strands that seemed to go on forever no matter where he looked until his eyes found the person the hair was.

“Stru-struggling is pointless,” the shadow on a beam shouted in false confidence. 

Squinting his eyes Flynn tried to get a better look at the person hidden in the shadows. They sounded young maybe younger than him and definitely a girl. If it wasn’t the fact he was tied up, he would have thought this was one of the strangest situations he’d ever been in.

Flynn watched the silhouette of the girl jumped to the floor slowly getting closer to Flynn, “I know why you’re here...and I’m not...afraid of you.”

The tied up man only gave her a look of disbelief, there was no way she knew. Although the stranger seemed pretty sure she knew why he was there but he thought it would be better to voice his thoughts, “What?”

The girl walked into the sunlight finally giving Flynn a face to go along with the unnaturally long hair and nervous voice. “Who are you?” She asked, holding a frying pan with both her hands tightly showing off her nervousness but putting on a brave face. She slowly raised it as if to smack him, “And how did you find me?”

The thief couldn’t take his eyes off her. The girl was in fact very beautiful with her long golden locks and her pretty dress that he was at a loss for words.

“Who are you?” The girl asked again getting more nervous at Flynn’s none answer. Slowly raising her frying pan higher as if expecting him to attack her, “And how did you find me?”

Flynn cleared his throat seeing how nervous the girl was. He could still sort of feel the pain on his head which he can only assume was from the frying pan in her hands. In this case he thought it best to just be honest with her and maybe try to lighten this tense mood, “I now not who you are nor how I came to find you but may I just say…” He gave her his best smile, “Hi, how you doin’ my name's Flynn Rider. How’s your day goin’?”

This normally worked with people when he was trying to pretend that he wasn’t up to something, but the attempt fell flat with the girl pointed her makeshift weapon at him like a sword, “Who else knows about my location? Flynn Rider.”

Flynn thought that this would be too easy. So, he told her the very condensed version of what happened how he ran into trouble and found her tower. It wasn’t even a lie it was all true. That was he noticed the missing satchel which held the one thing that could get him from becoming a criminal in Corona. As he turned wildly or tried too with the hair around him he asked the girl where his satchel was.

Rapunzel who she was apparently called herself crossed her hands over her chest in a self satisfied manner. Not unlike younger siblings and children would do when they think they got one over the clearly smarter people. “I’ve hidden it somewhere you’ll never find it.”

Flynn was unimpressed, he had enough experience to at least have an idea of where she could have put it. It also sounded like she didn’t get out often with how she acted with him early. Looking around the room his eyes landed on a lone pot close to the girl. “It’s in that pot isn’t it?”

When Flynn next woke up from his most recent bout of unconsciousness he saw the culprit of once again the wet willy. Shouting in disgust the chameleon jumped away in surprise as he tried to wipe away the ickiness with his shirt. It also didn’t help with his annoyance at the situation, who goes around hitting people beside the head with a frying pan? “Will you stop doing that.”

Acting more confident than ever with the familiar pose of arms crossed over her chest, “Now it’s hidden somewhere you’ll never find it.”

The professional thief gave her look at her words. He could think of a few places that she could have hidden the crown. Under her bed, in the same pot, under a floorboard, in the walls, maybe even under a step. The problem with that was he didn’t really have a lot of time to just go looking for it.

So, satisfied with outwitting him, Rapunzel shot out question after question which strangely enough all seemed to revolve around her hair. Eugene would never in a million years would have thought he would have met someone more eccentric than the one he knew but she definitely took the cake. Why would anyone want hair?

He told her as such making sure to emphasize that what she was accusing him of trying to do was ridiculous. While he was pretty sure that if anyone even wanted her hair could make a pretty penny making wigs out of all that hair the fact was that stealing hair wasn’t even a thing. No one did that especially if it was still attached to a person. Rapunzel looked shocked at his denial of her claims as if the thought that no one wanted her hair was ridiculous.

The frog glared at him trying to do what Flynn could only assume was see through his truthful words and find a lie. The entire situation was getting too weird for him and he lived with weird for years. This type of weird though had no charm. As the girl talked to her frog he tried to struggle his binds and escape but of course it was useless.

“Okay, Flynn Rider I am prepared to offer you a deal.”

“A deal?” He asked as he fell face first to the floor as Rapunzel moved her long hair.

Rapunzel explained the deal. She wanted him to take her to see the lanterns that the kingdom held every year for the lost princess. The very thought of doing that when the crown was missing didn’t sit very well with him not only is he still in hot water with the kingdom but he was being expected to escort a girl who in turn stole the crown. It sort of felt like a spit in the face to the poor monarchs.

He remembered being seven when the guards searched desperately for the girl and how the villagers and townspeople aided in the search. Heck, he had tried helping too because it was the right thing to do, but no one found her. Now he didn’t think that she was out there, but he couldn’t fault the monarchs for believing that their daughter was still out there. There is still no evidence of her demise and he can at least relate to holding onto that one certainty. Maybe if he found their daughter the crown wouldn’t matter, but the reality was, he needed to give that crown back.

“Fine, I’ll take you to see the lanterns.”


	3. Chapter Three

When Flynn agreed to Long-hairs deal he hadn’t been expecting it to be a literal rollercoaster of emotions. She fluctuated from happy, running around the woods to crying and holding herself regretting her actions. The thief had seen guilty consciousness, but Rapunzel’s behavior definitely took the cake. This was a cycle repeating multiple times to the point that Flynn almost worried over her mental state. He didn’t think that he knew anyone with that kind of problem, he couldn’t see what the big deal was the worst that her mother could do was ground her daughter.

This worked in the thief’s favor though if he could convince her to go back to her tower then he could get the crown. Rapunzel was obviously an example of an obedient daughter, she probably had never done anything to go against her mother. If the apparently forbidden road trip wasn’t obvious, the girl's view of the outside world was another hint. Whoever this “mother” was she was clearly controlling and overprotective.

Flynn leaned against a tree with his arms crossed only able to watch as the girl used her hair to swing around the same tree, “Woohoo, best… day….ever!”

Now she was crying by a stack of stones having spent all of her positive energy with her frog close by trying to comfort her.

Not that Flynn could relate growing up he was a free-roaming child. He had friends who he played with and went into all kinds of mischief. Flynn could remember all the trouble they got into before he left home. Not that blondies issues were any of his concerns, in this case, he appreciated any reason to get out of the “deal.”

Seeing his chance Flynn walked over to Rapunzel and cleared his throat, “You know I can’t help but notice that you seem a little at war with yourself here.”

Rapunzel moved her head to look at Flynn. She hadn’t thought that she was so obvious, “What?” Although thinking back how could he not notice with all the times she just stopped running and had a breakdown?

“Now I’m only picking up bits and pieces, of course, overprotective mother, forbidden road trip I mean this is serious stuff, but let me ease your conscious this is part of growing up, a little rebellion, a little adventure that’s good, healthy even.” Flynn smiled, slowly shoving her frog off his shoulder.

The words came out of his mouth easily it wasn’t that hard considering he had experience in the subject. He was an expert in disappointing parental figures even if he did only have the one. Although even if he was just saying it just to get a crown he knew that the girl really did need to hear something along those lines.

Rapunzel wiped her nose, “You think?” She clearly had doubts about those words but she was desperate to not feel so ashamed of her actions. It wasn’t too much to do right? She just wanted to see the floating lights and then come right back home. No one had to know.

Flynn looked at her. Bingo. “I know, you’re way over thinking this trust me does your mother deserve it? No. Would this break her heart? Crush her soul? Of course. But you just got to do it.”

After hearing those words the Rapunzel felt devastated. She held her long hair like a crutch repeating the very words he had described. Nothing that he stated did she want to happen to her mother. Rapunzel was nothing but a good and attentive daughter to her mother.

Thinking that he had gotten through to her Flynn helped her up to her feet seemingly sadly passing her Pascal and her frying pan before stating that he was letting her off the deal. That he would help her back to her tower and he would get back his satchel and then he would leave.

“We part ways as unlikely friends.”

Realizing what he was doing Rapunzel pushed him away and stated that she was still going to see those lanterns. If she didn’t do it now she felt that she would never get the courage to try again. This was her only chance to see the lights.

“Oh, come on what is it going to take for me to get my satchle back?!” Flynn asked outraged.

Rapunzel pointed her weapon at his throat, “I will use this.”

That is when they heard the sound of rustling bushes from behind, frightened Rapunzel went behind Flynn and clutched at his back pointing at “monster” in the bushes. Flynn rolled his eyes at the action there was no way it was anything dangerous and if it was sadly it would have attacked them by now. As if proving his guess the most innocent type of animal jumped out. A rabbit.

“Stay calm it can probably smell fear.”

Embarrassed Rapunzel quickly got off his back and tried to laugh it off. While she was glad it wasn’t anything dangerous it was still embarrassing when she was freaking out over nothing. “Sorry, I guess I’m just a little bit jumpy.”

That’s when Flynn was hit with an idea. An idea so brilliant that he was almost willing to congratulate himself. Thinking of the girls nervous and naive freakout over a rabbit gave Flynn an idea. Rapunzel seemed awfully afraid of thugs and ruffians maybe he could bring her to the Snuggly Duckling? Flynn shook his head at that she wanted her scared not traumatized. Maybe as a last resort.

His eyes darted to the little rabbit all sweet and innocent with it’s big eyes, fluffy fur and innocent size. Then his eyes darted to the bush which had caused this freakout, then his eyes turned to Rapunzel who was trying to put up a brave front in front of him. It was too perfect and the best part was he barely had to do anything.

“Fine you know what you’re right let's forget this ever happened but before we go we need to take one pit stop before we go to the capital.” Flynn said in fake enthusiasm.

Rapunzel furrowed her brows in confusion, she raised her weapon, “What do you mean?”

“Well I don’t mean to offend but as you’ve obviously noticed you have a lot of hair and since you’re so worried about people cutting and stealing it,”

“Yeah…” Rapunzel didn’t understand where this was going.

“Or messing with it?”

“That’s right.”

“Then the best thing to do is get it out of the way, I mean you wouldn’t want ruffians to just grab onto all that hair, or heaven forbid something get caught in it and an accident just happens.”

Rapunzel stayed silent at the words. She had never thought of doing anything to her hair especially anything of the nature that Flynn was describing. Her mother had never done anything of the sort just allowing her daughters hair to drag around the tower leaving all maintenance to the owner of said hair. She was expected to guard and protect the magic within, but she had to admit that Flynn was making some sense. 

There were times even in the tower when her hair got caught in something usually a piece of furniture. Looking down at her hair she noticed all the leaves, twigs, and flowers stuck in her hair. Slowly grabbing her hair she couldn’t help but think of what had happened earlier that day, when she asked her mother to go outside.

Mother grabbing her hair when she was singing her song about the dangers of the outside world. The dark tower had only heightened her at the time but even though she knew it was her mother who grabbed her hair and pulled at it in the dark. She would never voice it but she didn’t like that. She didn’t like how surprised she was when she felt it tugged. She didn’t like how she fell and mother rolled her into her own hair wrapping it around her like a makeshift prison. If she can keep it close then why wouldn’t she want that?

Rapunzel still had doubts and there was probably still plenty of time before her birthday, “Well...it would be nice not for my hair to be dragging around for once?”

Flynn smiled, success. He clapped his hands in celebration over the small victory and turned to her, “Well I know a wizard who lives not far from here, his name is Varian.”


	4. Chapter Four

Rapunzel could honestly say that she was feeling nervous. Who wouldn’t be? She had never even heard of a wizard up until that point. All this time she thought that she was the only one in the entire world who could do something special but it turns out that there were people just like her. Mother had never told her about this in fact the revelation that a person who could do magic was living in a village surrounded by people and lived so close to the Tower was mind-boggling. 

Now they were walking along a worn dirt road in silence. Pascal was perched on her shoulder and Flynn was leading the way. It left her with a lot of time to think.

“Hey, so what is this wizard like?” Rapunzel asked, she hoped he was nice and maybe could help her with her hair. It’s not that she didn’t want to go back to the Tower but with what she's seen so far her world looked so small in comparison.

“Well Blondie Varian has a talent in solving problems.” Flynn replied, keeping his eyes ahead, “Although rumor has it that he’s very dangerous.”

Rapunzel stopped, “Dangerous?”

“Yeah, he’s blown up the village countless times, made metal monsters which can follow his commands, and create potions with unimaginable effects.”

Pascal squeaked and narrowed his eyes at the mans words. 

She had heard enough maybe she can figure out something else about her hair. Maybe find someone else. Rapunzel could just imagine it a large stranger with a menacing voice, pointy teeth. Rapunzel shook her head, she had to be rational about this. Even if Flynn was a little mean at times with all his attempts to get back into the Tower, he was really nice. Mother would be furious if she ever tried doing what she did to Flynn to get what she wanted and he hadn’t tried to hurt her.

There was no doubt that Flynn knew the truth about her hair and throughout this time had not once tried to touch it. If she was so bold to think Mother was wrong about a few things already. 

Rapunzel laughed nervously, swinging her frying pan side by side, “Yeah, good try Flynn but you’re not getting rid of me that easily.”

He turned to look at her and shrugged his shoulders, “Well I tried to warn you. It’s your funeral blondie. Aha! There it is!”

Up ahead was a stone structure not unlike her tower only it wasn’t so thin. It had a side tower and looked bigger than her tower ever would. There clearly was damaged but it was livable if this was where the wizard was staying. 

Flynn threw up his hands, “Haha, look at this sweet place it’s been a while since I’ve been here hasn’t changed a bit.” Placing his hands over Rapunzel's shoulders he started pushing her toward the entrance, “Now come on Blondie before anyone sees us.”

Inside was dark and deserted but Flynn didn’t stop at the room behind the door. No, he went deeper into the castle until he stopped them by and ominous looking light coming from the crack of the door. The colors of blue, pink, green, purple, and magenta were all flashing beyond that door.

Placing his hands over the door knob Flynn turned to Rapunzel giving her a warning, “Sure you don’t wanna go back out now Blondie it looks likes things could get hair in there.”

Rapunzel looked at the lights. She had never seen those colors as lights it really was looking that some kind of magic was happening beyond that door. Turning to look at Pascal he squealed and shoved his hands in a go along motion. Rapunzel took a deep breath, she's made it this far she couldn’t lose her nerve now.

Tightening her hands around the frying pan should anything go wrong Rapunzel gave Flynn a hard look, “Let's do this.”

Flynn gave her a wide-eyed look normally when he did this sort of thing the people he was with got scared before they even met Varian. Other times even if they made it past the door they still ran off scared after experiencing Varian. In all honestly it was perfect when Flynn wanted to break up with someone. Scare them off and they’ll never bother him again. If they stuck around they were usually pretty great people.

Being sure to heighten the suspense before things inevitably went chaotic Flynn slowly turned the knob and pushed the door open. Gently grabbing Rapunzel's hand he led her to one place that he would normally avoid. When his leg tripped over the wire that's when all hell broke loose.

Rapunzel screamed when she felt something touch her feet, she tried moving but no matter how hard she tried she couldn’t move. She wildly swung with her frying pan trying to get their attacker. Why did she do this? It couldn’t have been worth it!

“Hello?” an unfamiliar voice said, “Who are you!”

By that point everything went black for Rapunzel.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh, my goodness she’s dead Eugene. She’s dead and it’s all my fault! What are we goin’ to do!?” Varian cried, grasping his head with his hands. 

Flynn calmly grabbed the salt shaker and sprinkled Varian’s anti-goo solution onto his trapped feet. He felt terrible at how this all played out and the accusing stare that the frog was giving him was not helping the current situation. Varian was freaking out not that Flynn blamed him who could when there was an unconscious stranger in his lab.

“Calm down kid, she just passed out.” Eugene said, gently lifting the girl from the floor. Varian had used his solution on her feet in an attempt to help but he wasn’t strong enough to carry her anywhere.

Pascal growled in his little reptile was and tried to hit Flynn with his tongue.

“Would… you… stop…. That.” Flynn said, swatting at the frog. “She’s fine frog long-hair here just had a fright.”

He looked around the room and spotted the familiar table that was kept in the lab. Luckily it was clean and not full of normally dangerous chemicals or sharp objects. Flynn walked over to the wooden table and gently placed Rapunzel onto the table. He took a seat on the near-by stool and threw his hands onto his face in exasperation. 

How could things go so wrong? He hadn’t meant for things to go so far. Now the crazy girl that he met in the woods was unconscious in a strangers (to her) lab. If that wasn’t bad enough he had freaked out the kid who worked in that same room. Sometimes he was just the worst.

“So, Eugene is she your girlfriend or something?” Varian shyly asked, his curiosity had winning over.

“Or something.” Flynn said, thinking about how panicked Rapunzel looked, everyone else who he had done this to didn’t have such desperate reactions. “She’s just a girl I met and am showing her around. She wanted to see the lantern festival.”

Varian hummed, “So, is she foriegn I mean with all that hair, and that’s a lot of hair.”

“Yeah, you can say that.” How else can he say that. That this girl had apparently never been out of her tower and this was the first time that she was in another persons house. There is also the fact that Flynn was trying to use him to make go running back to that tower.

“Well in any case,” Varian threw his hands around Flynn and gave him the tightest hug that a boy his age could manage, “it’s great to see you again, I was wondering when you’d come back.”

The excitement was clear in his voice and the smile on his face leave it to Varian to try to make light of a situation. Flynn returned the hug, “I missed you too kid.”

Flynn just wanted to continue with this moment and just forget the entire day. Forget that he stole a missing persons crown. Forget that the girl on the table was unconscious. He just wanted all his problems to wash away, but of course Varian took notice of the little pest on the side.

“No, way it’s a chameleon, fascinating.” Varian said, breaking away from the hug and racing towards the clearly nervous frog. “Did you know that chameleons have skin crystals in their skin which enable them to change color at will?”

Watching Varian try to coax the animal with fruit Flynn laughed, “No, no, I did not know that, but good to know.”

Pascal shot his tongue at a grape which Varian was holding out before turning the same shade as the grape. Flynn really needed to make this right to the girl on the table and he could only think of one thing that might just do it.

“Hey, Varian do you got anything for hair?”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rapunzel groaned as she came too, she had hit her head on the stone floor, but the rush of memories of the last thing she experienced made her quickly forget her pain. Rushing up from the table she frantically turned her head, she felt something nudge her hand and looked down. It was her frying pan!

Quickly grabbing it with two hands she pointed the frying pan, “Pascal?!” She cried out, she hoped that nothing happened to her only friend.

That’s when she heard the sound of words farther from the room tip toeing from the table she snuck into the next room keeping her weapon at the ready. Pushing her back against the wall she slowly tilted her head to see from the hall. If Pascal was in trouble then she would do everything in her power to get him back. She didn’t care if some big, scary wizard was around to stop her.

What she saw though made her lower her weapon and silence any doubts. Flynn the man who basically tricked her into coming into this strange place was playing with a kid. The kid looked only a few years younger than her but he was waving a strange object with glowing parts like a sword and saying words from memory. Pascal was on his shoulder looking no worse for wear. In fact he seemed to be enjoying what was happening.

Flynn, on the other hand, was making dramatic movements and slashing strokes towards the kid, but his “weapon” was a wooden sword which was clearly too small for him. He read passages off a book responding to the kids words. In fact Flynn looked like he was clearly having a good time.

Rapunzel couldn’t connect it, she had never played with a person who would talk back before. Pascal was great don’t get her wrong, but they couldn’t do anything like that in the tower. Not to mention there were only three books in that tower. Every attempt she made to play with Mother had failed and she learned to just play by herself. Pascal was a great playmate though, but she can only imagine having other people around to have fun with.

It seemed that she had been staring for too long because Flynn caught her looking. He froze and stared. Rapunzel stared back. Flynn eyed the wooden sword and threw it to the side, “Hey, Blondie you’re awake, so glad you can join us.” He turned to the kid he had been playing with, “I was just negotiating, yeah that’s it negotiating a deal with the person who lives here.”

Rapunzel didn’t believe him, but he was clearly embarrassed so she dropped the subject. Pascal leapt off the kids shoulder and hugged her face glad to see that she was okay. Although this was clearly a nice moment there was still that wizard they had to think about. 

The long haired girl raised her frying pan, “Flynn, where’s the wizard who trapped us in that goo?”

“Flynn?” the kid asked, confused the thief must have not told him his name.

Flynn grasped his hands, “ _ Yeah,  _ about that… you see the wizard.” 

The boy interrupted him, “Wizard? _ Hey _ , I’m not a wizard, the stuff I make is strictly science not magic.”

Rapunzel gave him a look putting the pieces together, “Wait so you’re…?”

“That’s right I am Varian!” Varian exclaimed, placing his hand over his chest proudly, “And it is very nice to meet you.”


	5. Chapter Five

“So, how did you first meet  _ Flynn Rider _ ? This I have to know.” Varian said, as he examined chunks of hair. His goggles gave him a bug-eyed appearance with them on, but he seemed very impressed at how long the hair was.

After getting over the shock that this child was the “dangerous” wizard. Varian was more than happy to help her with the hair. He was an excitable young boy, who wouldn’t stop talking about Flynn. One comment that had her confused though was that he was happy to meet Flynn’s “girlfriend,” despite the thief’s protests to the contrair. Varian really was a character.

“Yeah, so can you do it kid?” Flynn asked, trying to keep Varian focused, “We’re sort of on a schedule.”

“Pft, this’ll be easy. I have something that could help.”

Varian ran towards another room, his feet stopping on the stone floor. As his steps faded away Rapunzel was struck with the fact that she and Flynn were alone. Well not really Pascal was there too. The long-haired girl wasn’t angry at what happened, why would she be? She was the one who freaked out again.

Rapunzel took a deep breath, “Look Flynn…”

“I’m sorry, Rapunzel.”

That stopped her short. Why would he be the one apologizing? She was the one who messed up, maybe Mother was right, maybe she really couldn’t handle the outside world. Flynn wasn’t done speaking, though.

“I exaggerated the entire thing, I thought that if I could just scare you off I could get out of the deal. I didn’t think that you’d pass out the way you did. It wasn’t my intention to hurt you and I’m sorry for that.”

This took Rapunzel for a loop, she hadn’t thought once it was Flynn’s fault. She was the one who wanted to leave the tower. Although hearing him apologize to her really did lift her spirits. It was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. This was just a misstep, and there was no reason to just give up now.

Rapunzel still didn’t know how to handle the apology, Mother had never done anything of the needing an apology. All she could do was look at Pascal who gave her a go on motion. Taking a deep breath Rapunzel rose from the stool and walked towards the thief. Once she was face to face or as much as she could given that Flynn was a good head taller than her. Rapunzel placed both hands over her hips and gave Flynn a hard-look, “You better mister because just so you know we’re still going to see those lanterns.”

Flynn could only stare as the girl who was passed out tried to intimidate him. He could admit that there was a charm in the way she tried to act like nothing had changed. On one hand that makes it easier for him to get the crown back. On the other hand he was expecting more of a reaction than the one he got. Most people would be angry that they got tricked the way she did. He didn’t get the chance to reply when Varian came back running into the room. It also seemed that he had been listening in on the conversation.

“ _ Oh _ ,  _ Flynn’s _ taking you to see the floating lights? That’s so romantic.” Varian winked at Flynn. Trust the kid to always do this to him.

“I told you Varian it’s not like that.” There was no way he could be the only one with a kid like this, right? Maybe he should stuck around more often, then maybe Varian wouldn’t be giving him that teasing look.

“I know this really nice sweet shop  _ Flynn _ can take you, the store owner is really nice,  _ Flynn _ can take you, and make sure he takes you out for dinner and walks you home. He may act like a rouge but he was raised to be a gentleman.”

Flynn couldn’t keep the frustration out of his voice, “Varian shut up… it…. Is.... not… like…. That.”

Both boys held each others gazes with neither willing to look away. Flynn was finally starting to think that Varian finally got what Flynn was trying to say. Instead Varian turned to Rapunzel and asked, “So, you’re taking him out? I knew there was a girl out there who could sweep him off his feet.”

More like sneak up on him and knock him beside the head with a frying pan, but Flynn doubted that Varian would have anything to say other comment on how he probably deserved it. Flynn placed his hands on the younger boys shoulders and turned Varian to face him, “You know what it doesn’t matter anyway, did you get what you needed?”

The visitor could only watch as Varian showed off what he had brought back with him from the other room. It looked like rope made of nothing that either of them had ever seen. They were all sort of disappointed, they were expecting something more impressive.

“This is just rope,” Flynn said voicing Rapunzel's thoughts.

Varian scoffed, “It’s not just a rope  _ Flynn _ it’s a bungee cord. Rapunzel’s hair is too thick and long for normal hair ties so I thought with this we could use the cord to hold her hair and wrap it.”

Rapunzel was honestly impressed with the young alchemists' thoughts. She had been worried about what the younger boy would think up. Obviously cutting her hair was not an option, but Varian seemed to be rising to the challenge.

Varian held a section of hair for Flynn to hold. “Now come on if we hurry you guys can make a good distance to the castle.”

This is how they spent the next few minutes. Honestly Rapunzel was surprised at how little time it took for Varian to do the entire thing. The alchemist wrapped the cord high on her head in a high ponytail then wrapped a section around the cord. He then puffed the hair in a bubble shape and wrapped another cord under it. He repeated the process several times until finally he was done.

“We’re finished Rapunzel, come on check out your new look.” Varian gently grabbed her hand and led her to a full-sized mirror in the room. Once they reached it Varian moved to the side, “Alright so what do you think? Nice huh?”

What Rapunzel saw took her breath away. The hairstyle itself was impressive considering that Varian had stated that he had never worked with hair before. It wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t bad either but her hair wasn’t falling to the ground. For the first time her hair wasn’t on the ground.

A giant smile sprang onto Rapunzel’s face, she twirled around her hair following her movements. She laughed turning to Pascal who was perched on the nearby table, “So, Pascal how do I look?”

Pascal chirped, and gave her a chameleon smile. He loved it.

Rapunzel screamed, throwing her arms around Varian in a bear hug and twirled him around with her, “I love it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me.”

“Don’t… mention… it,” Varian wheezed, he hadn’t imagined the girl being so strong.

Rapunzel quickly let the boy go, “Oops, sorry.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Flynn stood to the side watching. It seemed very silly to be so happy about a new hair do but it seemed to mean the world to Rapunzel. It brought a smile to his face seeing both of them so happy. Maybe this entire situation wasn’t so bad.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Varian patted a cart stuffed full of personal items and food, “Mr. Travis is going to visit family for the festival tomorrow, the route is on the way if you hitch a ride you can make it to the castle by nightfall.”

Flynn and Rapunzel were squeezed into the limited space available in the cart. The tarp used to cover the cart was perfect for someone who was hiding from the authorities. Even better for the person who owned the cart to not notice the hitchhikers.

“Thank you so much for this.” Rapunzel said, peeking from under the tarp.

“Take care of yourself kid.” 

Varian handed Rapunzel a bag, “This has somethings that I made, take it as an apology for scaring you earlier.”

Rapunzel tried to refuse, but Varian insisted by shoving the bag into her arms. He told them to take care of each other and ran back towards the castle. Flynn and Rapunzel prepared to be comfortable because this was going to be a long ride.


	6. Chapter Six

The group wasn't hidden in the cart for long. Which was great since there was very little space to go around. While the ride was bumpy it was definitely faster than walking. When the cart stopped Flynn peaked his head out from under the tarp. The area looked familiar with a crossroads ahead with signs pointing to different directions. One of the villages the cart was heading to was in the opposite direction of the capital. It was time to go.

Pulling his head back in Flynn gently took Rapunzel’s hand, “Come on Blondie this is our stop.”

When they got off the cart they dashed into the woods to avoid getting caught by the oblivious cart driver. Flynn didn’t need to be accused of stealing when he needed to keep a low profile. After catching his breath Flynn looked around the area, it was empty save for the group. If they followed the dirt path they could get to the capital by nightfall.  
Flynn told Rapunzel exactly that and they walked along the woods following the dirt road deeper down the path. That’s when they happened upon a building, a run down one which had seen better days. The amount of noise coming from the building informed Flynn that the establishment was packed. It was also one Flynn recognized. It was also an establishment he wanted no business being near.

Rapunzel, however, had other ideas.

“Ooh, the Snuggly Duckling.” Rapunzel read from the sign, “Have you ever been here before Flynn?”

He placed his hands over her shoulders and steered her away from the building, “Yes, I have and let me tell you unlike the last place we’ve been at, it really isn’t a place we should visit.”

Rapunzel slipped away reading the sign further, “How can a place called the Snuggly Duckling be bad? Ooh, it’s a pun too? That’s like a restaurant right Pascal?”  
Pascal nodded, it sure sounded like it.

Smiling Rapunzel started to head towards the building ignoring the clear signs that it was a bad idea. Flynn jumped in her way, “Look Blondie believe me this is not a good idea, trust me the last thing you want is to get scared and to just give up on your adventure. Although if you did I would still get that crown back. The fact is that no one in their sane mind would come here.”

Rapunzel crossed her hands over her chest and gave Flynn an unimpressed look, “Haha, like you told me how dangerous Varian was?”

“Honestly, Goldie today was an off day for him, normally when I visit there’s an explosion or accident of some kind.”

Rapunzel didn’t look convinced, she wasn’t going to let what he was saying bother even if it did. In her one experience in visiting a strange place has taught her anything it's that words can be deceiving. She believed Flynn’s exaggeration about Varian this time she wasn’t going to freak out when clearly nothing was wrong. How can a place called the Snuggly Duckling be considered dangerous?

“Nice try Flynn Rider, but I won’t be letting you trick me this time.”

Placing her hand on the door she threw it open with all the confidence she could muster. Then she promptly froze at it became increasingly obvious that she had once again had the wrong impression. The number of eyes pinning her place was made all the worst seeing Mother's portrayal of thugs and ruffians be so on point. One even had pointy teeth, which made Rapunzel wonder if he was a cannibal. She grabbed her hair as a way to comfort herself at least she could keep it close by. Pascal, on the other hand, hid under her hair at something she hoped wasn’t chameleon tails.

Flynn sped walked towards the frozen girl and tried to steer her towards the door, he nervously laughed, “She’s not from around here we’re just a little bit lost but we’ll be seeing ourselves-”

The door slammed right at their faces before they could leave, leaving the room in darkness save for the candles in the building. The man who did so was a giant who wore a Viking helmet with long horns. So long, in fact, Flynn almost thought it was ridiculous, he wisely kept this to himself when the man narrowed his eyes at Flynn.  
Flynn just knew that coming here was a big mistake.

“Well look who's back it’s Flynn Rider.”

“Really? No, I’m not, I don’t know who Flynn Rider even is.” Flynn denied, looking for a way out.

A man with a hook for a hand grabbed him by the front of his shirt, “It’s him alright, word out in the streets is the guards are looking for you.”

The thief cringed at the words and the man’s breath. When he was a kid he would get into all sorts of trouble. This included messing with the patrons who now frequent in this very pub. They never caught him since he’s just that good, but they never forgot it either.

Flynn held his hands up in surrender, “Come on guys can’t we talk about this like civilized men?”

Hookhand only gave Flynn a look before turning to a random thug, “Call the guards.”

This was not looking good for Flynn.

Rapunzel watched in horror as the thugs grabbed Flynn, each one having a different issue with him. They dog-piled him and fought over him trying to be the one to win the right to punch him. Throughout all this Flynn struggled trying to get out of their grips but it was useless they were all too strong. Rapunzel for her part tried her best to get Flynn out of his situation. She was the one who got him into this mess. Now Flynn was going to get hurt all because she didn’t listen to his warnings. Grabbing her frying pan Rapunzel swung, “Hey! Leave him alone!” The pan bounced off the thugs, they were too tough.

This didn’t stop her from trying to push through the crowd of men, “Give me back my guy!” Another failure. Nothing was working.

That’s when Pascal chirped at some point he had moved into the bag that Varian had given her. He jumped out and held out a sphere similar to the one which had trapped her. Panicked as it looked like the thugs were going to punch Flynn Rapunzel threw the sphere with all her strength towards the thugs. She had no idea what it would do but she hoped it would help Flynn.

When the sphere hit the thug with the hook hand who was just moments away from hitting Flynn. There was an explosion of color. Pink to be exact. The color exploded in a cloud surrounding all the thugs, Flynn included. 

The end result was a group of grown men covered from head to toe in pink dust. Stunned and silent. Rapunzel saw this as her chance to be heard, “ Put him down!”  
The thug closest to her turned his head with a glare.

“Okay, look I’ve had a long day today. I’ve passed out and I don’t know where I am and I need him to take me to see the lanterns because I’ve been dreaming about them my entire life! Find your humanity! Haven’t any of you ever had a dream!?

“Okay, look I’ve had a long day today. I’ve passed out and I don’t know where I am and I need him to take me to see the lanterns because I’ve been dreaming about them my entire life! Find your humanity! Haven’t any of you ever had a dream!?

The thug who was staring at her took his ax off his back and started to stomp towards her. The other thugs just stared as the giant one hung Flynn on a hanger like a coat. As the man got closer Rapunzel tightened her grip on the pan with both hands and leaned away from the man to the point where her back was on the table. Just when she could only assume the worst the man said, “I had a dream once.”

What happened next was both the strangest and greatest thing she had ever experienced in recent memory. Thugs started to sing and not just the one but all of them about their dreams. It was exhilarating and it made her realize that she wasn’t the only one chasing a dream. That these thugs like her had a dream that they didn’t chase and they regretted it until this very day. This gave her hope that it wasn’t too late and that she and them, they all had a chance to fulfill their dreams.  
Just as everything felt perfect. It ended.

“I’ve found the guards!” 

Everyone went silent at the proclamation with Flynn grabbing Rapunzel and whisking her off the table she was standing on. They hid behind the bar as the guards shouted demands looking for the thief who still had the lost crown. Flynn braved a look and saw to his dismay the Stabbingtons in chains, which prompted him to quickly hide lest they see him.

Hookhand threw a hook stopping it right at his face moving his eyes to a specific section of the wooden floor. Catching Rapunzel's attention he silently pointed towards it and started crawling towards the duckling painted panel. Right, when they were on it the floors dropped exposing a hidden passage away from the guards.  
“Go,” Hookhand said, “live your dream.”

At this point in time, Flynn’s dream included not dying so he rushed ahead into the dark cave. Although he waited for Rapunzel to join him, which she did after thanking the thug. That’s when Flynn took her hand and started to run because there was no way he was going to get caught in Corona. What would everyone think? The entire day had reminded him of what exactly was at stake if he were ever caught.


	7. Chapter Seven

As they traveled deeper into the tunnel it became harder and harder to see what’s in front of them. If Flynn were to lift his hand he wouldn’t be able to see any sign of his hands. Flynn cursed himself making them run off ahead, there could have been lanterns at the entrance. The simple fact there was a secret tunnel made it very obvious how often it might have been used. If only there was something to light the way.

Similar thoughts were in Rapunzel’s head as she used the wall to lead the way. That’s when Pascal poked her with his tail and pointed at Flynn. Rapunzel gasped at what she saw it was faint but the powder on the man was giving off a dull glow. Dull enough at least for Flynn to take no notice of the fact. 

“Flynn, your clothes,” Rapunzel whispered, unable to take her eyes off the faint glow.

“Don’t remind me why if I had a penny for eve-” Flynn cut himself off stretching his vest and squinting his eyes at the dull pink. That’s when he remembered the cloud of color bomb Rapunzel had used and where she got it from. If Varian had given them that then Flynn could only imagine what else the kid put in the bag. He always packed to impress.

Flynn turned to Rapunzel, “Hey can you shake that bag a bit?”

Rapunzel gave Flynn a confused look not that he could see it. She lifted the bag from her side and gave the bag a good shake. Flynn wasn’t too worried if Varian was confident enough to just give his stuff away, then it probably wouldn’t explode from a simple shake. Although he could be wrong.

Gently lifting the flap of the bag Flynn gave a whoop of victory, “Oow mama, kid you always know when to come through for me when I need it.”

Reaching a hand into the bag Flynn pulled out a glowing blue vial that illuminated the tunnel. On the other hand, Flynn held a pink vial towards Rapunzel who couldn’t take her eyes off the new discoveries. Rapunzel had never seen something like this before it was almost magical a light source that didn’t come from her hair, a candle, or the sun? Unheard of.

Pascal squeaked at the pretty lights also keeping his eyes on the new treasure. Rapunzel handed it over to the chameleon who grasped at the vial securely. Flynn motioned her to keep going forward and they walked in a comfortable silence despite the seemingly dire situation. Rapunzel couldn’t keep the light spring in her step, hugging her frying pan, unable to keep the smile off her face.

Flynn saw this and he had to give credit to where it was due. “Well I’ve got to say didn’t know you had that in you, that was pretty impressive. Irresponsible yes, a little bit dumb absolutely, but overall impressive.”

“I know!” Rapunzel jumped, she didn’t like the other comments, but she let it go. The entire thing wasn’t her best moment even if it did turn out well. The blonde had to agree with Flynn. She honestly didn’t think she had it in her either or even the pub thugs. It was all a rush to her but she schooled her expression and shrugged her shoulders, “I know.”

Rapunzel had learned so much from this one trip even before she left the tower. She had learned that she could take care of herself after incapacitating Flynn. She learned that people aren’t always what they seem despite what others might claim after meeting Varian. She also learned that if given the chance that even people who look mean and scary have a sense of humanity with the pub thugs. The blonde looked towards Flynn was he really only a thief escaping the law or was there something more?

It was obvious he had been to many places. He knew different types of people if what she saw was anything to go by. The thief was friends with a young inventor, he was unpopular with guards, and the thugs tried to beat him up. Rapunzel was curious about the man who literally climbed into her life. Normally Mother wouldn’t appreciate any kind of probing questions but something about Flynn made her feel safe enough to ask. The worst he can do is say no. 

“So, Flynn where’re you from?”

Flynn straightened at the question, “Wo wo, sorry Blondie I don’t do backstories. All anyone needs to know is Flynn Rider dashing thief,” He flashed Rapunzel a winning smile, “no one wants to know about the man before the legend, and frankly I have a reputation to uphold. However, I am becoming very interested in yours. Now I know I’m not supposed to mention the hair-”

Rapunzel shook her head, “Nope.”

“Or the Mother,”

“Na ah,”

“Frankly I’m too scared to ask about the frog.”

“Chameleon.”  
Flynn turned to her with curiosity flashing through his eyes, “Here’s my question though if you want to see the lanterns so badly, why haven’t you gone before?”

To Flynn, this was a legitimate question even people who live the most remote of places take the time to travel to nearby villages or cities. This, however, was another level, there shouldn’t have been anything stopping her from seeing the lanterns. It wasn’t exclusive to royalty and anyone was welcome to participate, he had participated in his younger years. Why had this person never been to the festival when they lived so close to it?

Rapunzel laughed nervously, fidgeting with her frying pan and sharing a look with Pascal, “...Well.”

That’s when they saw the light at the end of the tunnel, seeing the chance to avoid Flynn’s question, Rapunzel raced towards the light. Outside of the tunnel, the sight of a canyon greeted her she couldn’t exactly place where she was but it looked like the wooden wall behind her was so sort of dam.

Flynn rushed after her, seemingly forgetting the unanswered question, “Slow down, there Blondie we still have no idea where we are.”

That’s when the echoes of a clearly angry horse were heard followed by the guard's voices. Flynn jumped into action he spotted a rope ladder which led down from the ledge they were on. It wasn’t perfect but it wasn’t like there were other options. He grabbed Rapunzel’s hand and pointed towards the rope, “Come on Blondie we got to lose them.”

By the time the guards had made it out Flynn and Rapunzel were halfway down the rope ladder.

Rapunzel looked up when the guards shouted to stop, “Who are they?”

Flynn kept climbing down, “They don’t like me.”

Looking over his shoulder Flynn saw the Stabbingtons break through a boarded-up exit.

“Oh, no,” Flynn whispered.

“Who are they?”

Before Flynn could answer the crazy horse appeared from the crowd of guards breathing heavily.

“Oh, come one, you know what just assume that everyone here doesn’t like me,” Flynn said in frustration looking for any way out of the increasingly bleak situation.

They were trapped plain and simple. If they went back up to escape the guards would get them. If they went down the Stabbingtons would get them. Not to mention if somehow they were able to avoid everyone the horse would just get them.

Flynn took a deep and looked towards Rapunzel, “Sorry Blondie looks like our little road trip is going to be cut short.”

Rapunzel’s eye widened at those words, she desperately looked everywhere for some way to escape, this couldn’t be how everything ended it just couldn’t. That’s when she looked towards the bag around her shoulders, it had been helpful so far, there was no telling what other surprises it had in store. Neither she or Flynn had any idea what the other colored spheres could do but anything would be better than getting caught at this point.

Clutching two spheres in hand Rapunzel passed them over to Pascal before turning towards Flynn, “Catch!” She threw an armful of spheres towards him.

Clumsily catching the falling objects Flynn looked at the spheres before smiling, “Blondie you’re a genius!”

The next moments were utter mayhem. The pair wildly threw the spheres at their pursuers trying to create an opportunity for escape. The spheres usually missed or hit their intended targets displaying a multitude of reactions and effects after each use. One sphere managed to hit a sword only to disintegrate the weapon, another caused another cloud of color. Flynn managed to get a direct hit on both the Stabbingtons freezing them in place just when they grabbed the rope ladder.

“Now’s our chance.” Flynn cried, hurryingly climbing down the ladder, who knows when the brothers would unfreeze.

As the duo rushed away from the ladder when their feet hit the dirt ground. Flynn turned to look back at the progress of their pursuers meeting the eyes of the crazy horse. The horse bellowed at the running thief before making his way down the ladder.

“Since when do horses climb down ladders?”

“Flynn!”

Turning towards the girl ahead of him, Rapunzel threw her frying pan towards the thief. Fumbling the catch, Flynn was able to have a secure hold on the object grasping it tightly to avoid dropping it. Gasping the final sphere in her hand Rapunzel threw it towards Flynn. Wasting no time Flynn holding pan as a makeshift bat, hit the sphere where it sailed towards the rapidly pursuing horse. When it hit the horse was engulfed in a bubble unable to escape as he floated away.

Flynn laughed, “Ha, take that fleabag!”

The horse glared at Flynn bashing itself against the slippery bubble wall. It was no use though somehow the bubble was just too strong. As the horse floated away all he could do was give off a loud whine as his target ran further and further away.

It looked like at this point they were going to be home free. The guards were still clumsily climbing down the rope ladder with considerably less grace than the horse. The Stabbingtons are frozen in their icy prison and now they were heading towards what appears to be an exit. Nothing can stop them now.

A loud crash was heard from behind the running duo. To Flynn it was a familiar sound, he had heard such sounds enough times to know that it spelled imminent doom. The thief had an idea of what could have happened to cause such a sound, but he wasn’t going to think about it because that would place blame on the person who gave them the spheres. A lot of things could have happened but considering the guards were holding torches it’s possible that one of the spheres mixed in with the fire. 

Trying to figure out what caused that sound, however, wasn’t the most important thing right now though. Acting fast Flynn sped up towards the blond ahead of him easily overtaking her, he grabbed her hand and led her towards the cave. As they were halfway to the cave the dam burst, releasing gallons upon gallons of water gushing through the canyon. The force of the water was so strong it destroyed a stone column, running faster the group managed to pass through the cave entrance just as the column blocked the entrance. No one could celebrate though because now they were trapped. 


	8. Chapter Eight

When the water rushed through the cave entrance Flynn and Rapunzel frantically tried to break out of their cave prison. Rapunzel banged the wall with her frying pan desperate for a way out, but as one would expect from such an action it was pointless. They had been through too much for it all to end like this.

Flynn was no better taking deep breaths to dive towards the pitch-black floor in an attempt to find an exit. As the water filled their space the man's attempts become more desperate as the breathing room decreases. Flynn throws himself against the stone walls trying to break down the walls when that didn’t work he tried to force his way out with his hands.

A sharp pain traveled along his palm, clutching his hand Flynn saw a deep gash along the middle of his palm. He turned to Rapunzel watching her continued banging, grasping her bag Flynn rummaged through it hoping to find the glowing vials. Only the items weren’t there, they must have been thrown along with the alchemy spheres.

The thief still held out hope. He had been through too much through his adventures as Flynn Rider, broken into impossible treasures. His life couldn’t end like this, there are still waiting for him to come home. There are still things he left unsaid. Funny that it only took him being trapped in a flooding cave and facing certain death for Flynn to realize all that.

Diving one last time, Flynn gasped, “It’s no use, I can’t see anything.”

There was a calmness inside Flynn as he absorbed the situation. This hadn’t crossed Rapunzel's mind however as she attempted her own dive. Flynn stopped her, grabbing her by the middle of her waist and pulling her up before she could properly dive. Not that he could blame her drowning was a terrible way to go.

He brushed her hair from her face, at one point the bands holding her hair had come loose, “Hey, there’s no point, it’s pitch black down there.”

Rapunzel's eyes widened at those words, it really was going to end like this. She pressed her hand against her forehead, shutting her eyes, “This all my fault, she was right I never should have done this. I’m sorry Flynn. I’m so sorry Flynn.”

Flynn could hear the utter heartbreak in her voice. It was the complete opposite of the girl he was used too, it felt wrong. Rapunzel wasn’t supposed to be crying in shame, she should be running around with her dumb frog maybe hitting ruffians with her frying pan. Although thinking about his life up until this point, Flynn knew that it was a long time coming. 

He had plenty of chances to turn his life around. It's not like he couldn’t have stopped at any time. Look at him now though being pressured into stealing a kidnapped girls crown and running from guards in his own home. Causing trouble is fun but not when there’s no safe place to go back to.

Flynn looked at the crying girl beside him. If they were going to die anyway then it was best to be honest, “Eugene.”

Rapunzel sniffed, “What?”

“My real name is Eugene. You might as well know.”

The blond smiled at the admission. This was the first time anyone trusted her with a secret. Usually, she was the one keeping secrets from her mother, hiding Pascal from her prying eyes, but being told a secret was something else.

She clutched the loose hair, “I have magic hair that glows when I sing.”

“What?” Eugene said, wondering if he had heard right.

That’s when Rapunzel was hit with a burst of inspiration, her eyes widened as the meaning of her words hit her. In hindsight she always had a way to brighten up the dark cave, “I have magic hair that glows when I sing!”

Rapunzel started to sing rushing through the lyrics as the water was reaching toward the cave ceiling. When everyone was submerged she was half worried that it was too late, that the song wouldn’t take any effect. When her hair glowed illuminating the bleek cave hope grew in Rapunzel’s heart with every strand that glew. She ignored Eugene’s shocked reaction and looked for a way out.

It is at that moment she noticed the loose strands of hair being pulled away, not unlike water being pulled down a drain. Water was leaving through that hidden space within the cave which meant not all hope was lost. Sharing a look Rapunzel and Eugene worked on moving the stones pushing and pulling with all their strength. It was hard work especially since they had such a limited supply of air in their lungs.

When the wall finally gave way after what seemed like hours the current dumped the group into a river with a surge of water. Luckily for them, the river wasn’t so deep which allowed them to regain their bearings and waddle towards the riverbank. Exhausted and wet Rapunzel and Eugene dragged themselves out of the water very much glad to have escaped a watery demise.

“We made it!” Rapunzel gasped, with Pascal gripping tightly on her shoulders.

“Her hair glows,” Eugene muttered, the shock of the recent events catching up to him.

“We’re alive!” Rapunzel rushed away from the riverbank gathering up her long golden hair. It was unfortunate that bands didn’t survive the trip, likely washed away with the currents but she was glad her hair was free at this time. She couldn’t imagine having it tied while wet.

Eugene was still trying to process what had happened, clutching his hand in pain. This didn’t just happen he had been to many places during his travels as Flynn Rider and not once had he ever seen this. Bandits sure. Kings, why not? Girls with glowing hair, not so much.

Rapunzel stared at Eugene clutching at his injured hand. He got hurt trying to save them and now that he knew the truth about her hair, there was nothing stopping her from giving him the entire truth.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So you’re being strangely cryptic as you wrap your magic hair around my injured hand,” Eugene said, wincing in pain caused by the action.

After leaving the river behind the group found a clearing in the woods where they could rest the night away. Eugene with the help of Rapunzel gathered wood and kindle to make a fire to keep warm and dry of their soaked clothes. It was only after drying off that Rapunzel had instructed Eugene to give her his hand.

Rapunzel winced in sympathy at Eugene's pain, “Sorry… just don’t, don’t freak out.” She was very much hoping that this kindness would be a mistake.

The thief watched the blond close her eyes and started singing her song. The light traveled from the roots of her hair towards the tips. If anyone had told him such a thing was possible he would have laughed, only this was all real. It was no laughing matter.

When the light traveled along the hair wrapped on his hands, he felt it. He felt the warmth enveloping his injured palm like a sunbeam warm and refreshing. He felt the pain fade away as the stinging of the injury subsided. Just like magic.  
Eugene despite Rapunzel's words was freaking out. When the song finished he stared at his healed palm in shock narrowly screaming in shock. It was only Rapunzel’s attempt to keep him calm that stopped him from screaming loud enough for the entire kingdom to hear him.

“I’m not freaking out are you freaking out? No, I’m just very interested in your hair and the magical qualities that it possesses. How long has it been doing that exactly?”

Rapunzel let out a timid laugh, things were going better than she expected, “Forever, I guess…” Then her expression turned somber, “Mother says that when I was a baby people tried to cut it, they wanted to take it for themselves…”

The blond brushed her hair to the side showing off a strand of brown hair, very different from the rest, “but once it's cut it turns brown, loses its power… a gift like that it has to be protected. That’s why Mother never let me… that’s why I never left…”

For some reason she couldn’t voice those final words, it wasn’t so bad. Mother took great care of her bringing little pieces of the outside world to occupy her time. Who can forget Pascal too, it was great playing hide and seek all around the tower. Thinking about all that time spent in the tower makes it seem very bleak and lonely when compared to her time outside.

Eugene must have sensed her difficulty, because he finished the thought, “You never left that tower.” He stared at her with a new understanding, “And you’re still going to go back?”

“No…” Rapunzel winced, “yes,” The blond buried her face in her hands, she didn’t really know what she wanted anymore, “it’s complicated.”

The thief could only watch her feeling only pity for her. Eugene couldn’t imagine living like that only having a frog as a friend and being locked away. It wasn’t a life worth living, although he couldn’t help but voice one question. “Then why don’t you just get rid of it?”

Rapunzel could only stare at him as if he had asked the silliest question she had ever heard. Instead of letting that get to him, he continued with his thought. “Well from what you said and everything we’ve done it doesn’t look like you want to go back. If you want to stay outside then maybe it would be better if there was no more magic hair to steal?”

“What are you saying? My hair is a gift it needs to be protected.” Rapunzel said, jumping from her log clearly agitated.  
  
“Okay, okay it’s just a thought,” Eugene said, throwing up his hands in surrender.  
Maybe he didn’t really understand what was going on in Rapunzel’s life and it was her decision whether or not to keep the magic hair. It’s just that what was the point of having magic hair if you’re just going to lock yourself away in a tower? It didn’t look or sound like anyone is benefitting from the arrangement. Eugene did not voice these thoughts, however not wanting to further upset Rapunzel.

Ignorant of his thoughts Rapunzel calmed down after hearing his words and sat back down on the log. There was a tense silence, this time broken by Rapunzel, “So, Eugene?”

He welcomed the distraction, “Yeah well, I’m going to spare you the details of Eugene of Old Corona.” He stole a look from Rapunzel who waited for an explanation, “There was this book, one of the first things I ever got, the Tales of Flynnigan Rider.” He said waving his hand dramatically, “I used to read it to my little brother all the time, we’d out our favorite parts and goof off. Good times.” 

Thinking about those times made Eugene’s mouth go dry. It really was so simple back then, just some kids playing around and having fun. He honestly didn’t think he was missing those times, guess he was wrong.

“Was Flynn a thief too?”

“No actually he had enough money to do whatever he wanted. He could do anything, be anything and for a kid like me it was the dream.”

Rapunzel stayed silent thinking over what Eugene had said. In a way, she could understand what he was talking about. You just couldn’t help dreaming of things. “So you have a brother?”

Eugene smiled, “Yep, he’d always follow me around calling us Team Awesome, honestly the trouble he would get into.”

The blond watched Eugene as he talked about his little brother. The way he talked about this brother was full of fondness with some exasperation. It made her wonder how Mother sounded like if she would ever talk about her to other people would she have the same tone in her voice? Rapunzel hoped so, it sounds nice having people think of you even when you’re apart.

“It sounds like you really love your family a lot,” Rapunzel stated, how can she not notice with the way Eugene was talking about his life before becoming Flynn Rider. “Why did you leave then?”  
Eugene stared at the fire thinking back to why he left. Ran away thinking about it now. “Things changed blonde and not for the better some things happened and I didn’t deal with it in the best of ways. I didn’t leave in the best of terms with my dad, but thinking about the past now it seems silly after everything that’s happened. I guess having a near-death experience puts a few things in perspective when it comes to family.”

“Like what?” Rapunzel asked, leaning forward. Hearing all this she could never imagine being able to get away with treating her own Mother in such a manner. 

She watched Eugene stand up looking at the fire, he had a look in his eyes that she couldn’t quite place, “That you don’t want the last thing you ever did with the people you care about to be fighting. Maybe sometimes it’s best to just let some things go.”  



	9. Chapter Nine

Sleep didn’t come easy for Rapunzel that night. How could it when the unkind words of her mother echoed in her thoughts? The blond trusted Eugene with her secret, why wouldn’t she trust him to keep his word? She knew the answer of course it’s because she still had doubts about the outside world riding on this one trip and this one person. If Eugene were to leave her like nothing happened when he got the satchel back she didn't know how she would take it.

Mother had been very clear when they talked last night. The older woman didn’t believe that Rapunzel was smart enough to be out in the world, that she was naive in her beliefs. That Rapunzel was being difficult when she got silly ideas in her head, that she needed a reality check. 

The blonde had done something she had never done before which was stand up to her Mother, it left both of them shocked at the action. Mother had been cruel in her attempts to disway her daughter to convince her to come back to the tower. The satchel was just a means to warn her daughter about the darkness of humanity, that she was just a means to an end, the exact reason why she was hidden away in the first place. 

Rapunzel wouldn’t let those doubts stop her though, for too long she had let others dictate how she acted it was time for her to make her own experiences. If she was being honest with herself she believed Mothers jabs, which is why the girl had hidden the satchel from her companion. It was an attempt to protect a fragile hope, a hope that her Mother was wrong about everything. Even if she was naive about the dangers of the outside world she was out and willing to learn. If she could prove her Mother wrong about this then maybe she was wrong about other things too. Maybe this trip would only become the first of many.

Shouting jolted Rapunzel and Pascal from their uneasy sleep. It was Eugene, and he sounded like he was in trouble. Rushing towards the sound Rapunzel was met with the strangest of sights. In front of her was the same white horse who chased them in the canyon, he was trying to drag Eugene off, although Eugene was clawing desperately on the ground in an attempt to getaway. It would have been funny if the situation wasn’t so serious.

Grabbing Eugene’s flailing hands Rapunzel tried pulling away from the horse, but held fast not willing to let his prey escape again. Neither side was gaining traction however leaving them in a stalemate in their tug of war. This only prompted both sides to pull even harder until finally the boot that the horse was holding onto slipped off the panicking thief causing both sides to fall to the ground.

Finally free from the animals clutches Eugene scrambled towards the nearest tree pressing himself against it in an attempt to give distance between himself and the horse. The horse huffed running towards his target only to be stopped by Rapunzel who threw her arms out wide in an attempt to lock the horse. The horse tried to move past her only to be blocked at every turn until he could only stare at the strange girl with a chameleon on her head.

“Now sit,” Rapunzel said, lowering her hands in a downwards motion.

The horse made the motions to sit, they clearly weren’t sold on the idea when they stopped in a squat. Only sitting when Rapunzel repeated the command to the horse.

“What?” Eugene said he couldn’t believe it would be that easy.

Rapunzel pointed her hand down, “Now drop the boot.”

The horse gave Rapunzel a look as if she was asking him to do something ridiculous, but complied when she repeated herself. When they did Rapunzel showered them in praise petting their snout and talking to them in a sweet voice, one reserved to animals and well-behaved children. Eugene would have thought what he was seeing was some crazy dream if it weren’t for the fact that everything felt too real.

“Come on,” Eugene said, throwing his hands towards the horse, “he’s a bad horse.”

The horse glared at Eugene, not appreciating the slander to their character. Luckily they were distracted by Rapunzel before they decided to do anything.

“Aw, he’s nothing but a big sweetheart,” The horse nuzzled Rapunzel in agreement as if to prove her point, “isn’t that right?....Maximus.”

Eugene crossed his arms over his chest in disbelief, “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Maximus glared at Eugene, it was clear the goodwill did not extend towards the thief. Although considering how things went yesterday it would be good to have a little more help in keeping the guard off Eugene.

“Look today is kind of the biggest day of my life,” Rapunzel said, slowly walking towards Eugene being mindful to keep her eyes in contact with the horse. Somehow she was able to help Eugene back onto his feet without too much trouble. “And the thing is I need you not to get his arrested.”

Maximus stared at what he could only consider as a silly proposal. Him not arrest a criminal? Ridiculous.

“Just for twenty-four hours,” Rapunzel said, seeing her lose the horse, “then you can chase each other to your heart's content. Okay?”

The thief sighed at where his life had led him up until this point. One second he was gallivanting through the forest the next he was making deals with guards to keep his freedom. His fate resting in the charm of a girl winning over a horse. Eugene held out his hand to shake on it, but he didn’t have to like it.

Maximus stared at the held out hand, then at Eugene. The horse looked away clearly not being won over by Rapnunzel.

“And it’s also my birthday,” Rapunzel said through gritted teeth clearly hoping for the best.

Which shockingly enough happened with Maximus holding out a hoof to shake. Both thief and guard shook in agreement at the supposed truce for twenty-four hours. Although it didn’t stop Maximus from punching Eugene in the gut when Rapunzel’s back was turned. The horse needed to get back at the thief for causing so much trouble after all. It was only fair.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There’s something about hiding from guards and seeing your face on a wanted poster that really puts the sense of adventure in you. Since arriving at the capital Eugene with the help of Maximus was able to stay out of sight, imagine his surprise at the corona issued wanted posters. Imagine his horror when they got his nose wrong, although the horse seemed in good spirits about that.

Rapunzel had a rough start when first arriving at the capital since her hair was dragging on the ground without the bands longing it up. It was only luck that she was able to make friends with a group of sisters who were nice enough to braid the long hair. Eugene imagined that they also couldn’t resist the challenge either, but the braid they left behind was much better suited to Rapunzel than what she previously had before. 

Now the thief was watching her bring people to dance with her in the courtyard. It didn’t matter to her that the people were complete strangers, she wanted everyone to join in on the fun. Not that he could blame her considering that it was a special day for her, she just wanted to share it.

“So, aren’t you going to dance with your girlfriend?”

Eugene jumped forward in surprise almost dropping the food he bought. Maximus let out a horse laugh at the thief's reaction. “What? Varian, what are you doing here?” Eugene crouched a bit looking around the crowd, “Is dad here too?”

Varian looked at Eugene as he took a bite out of his apple. “Don’t worry, Dad couldn’t make it, he’s busy working on the harvest. Like I’d miss the chance to help out my favorite brother impress a girl.” The younger boy handed Maximus an apple that the horse gladly ate.

“Taking bribes are you now?”

Maximus ignored the thief relishing the flavor of the apples.

“Also Varian, I’m your only brother,” Eugene said, placing his hands over his hips. “And she’s not my girlfriend.”  
“Then why is she trying to get you to dance?”

Eugene followed where Varian was pointing and sure enough, Rapunzel was motioning for him to join the dance circle. Eugene shook his head not wanting to dance, but the present company was not having any of that. Maximus strongly nudged Eugene forward with Varian giving his brother his own little push towards the crowd. The thief wouldn’t admit that he did have fun during that time dancing. He and Rapunzel tried a few times to dance with each other but someone else always came to whisk them away.

When Rapunzel and Eugene came back from dancing, Eugene saw Varian talking to the guard horse who looked too happy for comfort. Rapunzel’s face broke out in a grin rushing towards Varian, greeting him and asking if he was there to see the lanterns too. “Well, yeah who wouldn’t want to spend extra time with the Flynn Rider.”

He could at least give Varian credit, the kid knew how to butter people up. Eugene had taught him well. It also didn’t help that Varian was giving him a look which was usually the one reserved when he wanted Eugene to keep a secret from dad. Eugen let out a breath, at least he didn’t have to worry about his dad at the moment.

Rapunzel watched the interaction thinking about the words and zeroing on a few important words and details. To her it seemed obvious that Varian wanted to spend time with Eugene, how could she not? She used to do the exact same thing when she was younger with Mother.

She looked at the thief who gave Varian an unimpressed look before breaking out into a smile, “Oh, fine the more the merrier right?”

Varian jumped at the words doing a little dance in celebration, “Woohoo, Team Awesome is back!”

Rapunzel jumped in excitement almost letting out a little cry hearing those words, she gripped Eugene's bicep and leaned forward towards Varian. “Eugene, Varian is your brother right?” She remembered the words Eugene said last night before her Mother appeared. 

The younger boy’s eyes widened in surprise as he turned to Eugene, “You talked about me?”

“The subject came up.”

“It must have Eugene,” 

“Why you little.”

Rapunzel laughed as she saw the two brothers give chase to each other. Varian kept away from Eugene as he tried to catch Varian. They stuck close to her not wanting to lose her in the festival, but it was clear that it was all in good fun. The girl couldn’t help but watch seeing another side or at least the one Eugene tried to hide from all that time ago. She had a feeling that the worries she had from last night were unfounded.


	10. Chapter ten

Eugene gripped Maximus’ reins silently urging the horse to run faster. How could things have gone so wrong? Last night had been perfect, like none he ever had before. It was a silly question in hindsight, he got himself in this mess, so focused on how he realized a new dream that he forgot that not everyone wanted to let bygones be bygones.

They had spent the day exploring the capital, absorbing the sights. Varian had convinced Eugene to show Rapunzel the local library, as it was his brother's favorite destination when he visited. To be fair it had been a while since Eugene had last been to the capital, last time didn’t afford him the chance to appreciate how much it changed. Neither of them had seen Varian in all the time they spent in the library, but they assumed he was keeping Maximus company as horses weren’t allowed into the building.

Hiding from the guard had a new charm the more time he spent with Rapunzel. It had become a sort of a game to them, laughing as they hid in alleyways, noses almost touching. They shared cupcakes bought from the local food stands.

Rapunzel shared her artistic talents with the kingdom, chalking a mural on the cobblestones. They danced and danced with the locals breathing new life into the older residents. No doubt the ones who remembered the events of that awful day. The duo was even able to dance together after several failed attempts.

Imagine the duo’s surprise when Varian led them to the docks, throwing his hands towards the gondola. Turns out he was getting one for them when he ran off stating something sciency. Something about water, illumination, and mirrors. Eugene had just been glad the kid didn’t make any adjustments to the gondola, didn’t need anything blowing up today. After the fact though Eugene could safely say that it was the most magical boat ride in his entire life.

Now Eugene was riding for his life, towards the girl of his dreams. To think that such a manipulative woman would go so far to hide her daughter. It’s even possible that Rapunzel was in danger, no one went up to seasoned criminals like the Stabbingtons and string them along to her plans. Eugene had no illusions that it was all for Rapunzel because if it was then her daughter wouldn’t have jumped at the chance to leave.

In hindsight, the signs were all there in plain view. The distorted worldview, the anxiety of the unknown. Even the silent desperation as the poor girl talked about realizing her dream. Eugene wanted to keep all that alive.

It was just his luck too that, that same girl would be the one who saved him from an untimely fate at the gallows. After he was able to get the information by intimidating the Stabbington brothers Eugene was dragged by the captain of the guard towards his execution. His thoughts were so consumed that he found himself being distracted by a ceramic unicorn, which was the strangest thing, especially in a prison. 

What happens next he can only best describe as jaw-dropping death-defying and unbelievable, as the people who tried to hurt him the day before actually helped him escape. Everyone was there the Mime, the old guy who was probably drunk and even Hook Hand. It was another shock to discover that Maximus, the horse who hunted him down like a dog was the one who brought the thugs into this rescue mission. 

Imagine that, an officer of the law, helping a known criminal. What’s next? A criminal becoming part of the royal guard. That’s just crazy.

Help Maximus did though, he ran from his comrades, jumping roofs and racing over the bridge connecting the island to the mainland. All the time with Eugene encouraging him to run faster. By the time the other royal guards were able to apprehend the pub thugs the man known to them as Flynn Rider was long gone.

Unknown to the fact that it wasn’t about the dumb crown anymore, it wasn’t about Eugene either, it was about the person who he thinks could be the one. The pub thugs, even Maximus were risking everything for him, a thief to succeed. He wasn’t about to let them down, let Rapunzel down.

Finally, he led Maximus through the hidden entrance which Eugene had used to escape all that time ago. Wasting no time he jumped off the horses back running towards the tower. It looked just as gloomy and lonely the first time he had arrived there.

“Rapunzel,” Eugene called, hoping for any sign that she was okay. Hearing no response he cupped his hands over his mouth calling to her, “Rapunzel, let down your hair.”

Still nothing. Panicking Eugene ran closer to the tower, planning on climbing it as he did the first time. He stopped at the sound of wood opening, looking up he saw the golden locks thrown towards him. Eugene gave little thought as he grabbed on and climbed.

Reaching the top, Eugene dragged himself through the window and into the tower, “Rapunzel, I thought I’d never see you again.”

He had been so relieved, only to be met with the sight of her gagged and chained. Rapunzel was struggling, trying to reach him, to communicate the danger that he was in. Eugene had no time to react to the sudden burst of intense pain flaring up through his side. He had been stabbed.

The thief clutched his side, falling to the ground where he was met with the sight of a woman, holding a bloodstained knife. Rapunzel’s infamous mother, Mother Gothel.

“Now look at what you’ve done Rapunzel,” She said, staring coldly down at the man. “Don’t worry dear, our secret will die with him.”

The pain was unbearable, leaving Eugene weak and at the mercy of that woman. Rapunzel struggled to reach him in an attempt to help him. She had the power to heal, she could save him, she could fix him.

Mother Gothel was having none of that, grabbing the chains pulling her daughter towards a hidden passage. “And as for us, we are going where no one will ever find you again.”

Pascal tried to stop her, biting at the helm of her dress. To her, he was nothing more than an annoyance. An annoyance she dealt with a single kick.

“Rapunzel really,” Gothel cried, with each pull of the chain, “enough already, stop fighting me.”  
“No,” Rapunzel cried, falling to the ground, her gag had slipped off letting her speak, “I won’t stop, for every minute, of the rest of my life I will fight, I will never stop trying to get away from you.” She took a breath, “But if you let me save him, I will go with you.”

“No, no Rapunzel.” Eugene struggled, not for him, never for him. He didn’t want to be saved if it meant Rapunzel could never be free.

“I’ll never run. I’ll never try to escape, just let me heal him, and you and I can be together, forever, just like you want. Everything will be the way it was… I promise. Just like you want… just… let… me… heal him.”

Gothel stared coldly at Rapunzel, a girl who she had stolen eighteen years ago. She always knew that the little thing would be the cause of so much trouble one day. Always asking questions, being defiant never just listening to what she was told. The woman had just hoped that she would be able to control her until that day came. It looked like that day had come all too soon.

It’s the only reason why she agreed to allow her flower to heal the thieving little pest. Rapunzel’s naive nature would never think of lying to her or breaking a promise. It’s how she was able to keep her obedient for all these years.

Gothel shackled the thief, “In case you get any ideas about following.”

She walked away giving the two fools the space they needed to say their goodbyes. Mother Gothel rolled her eyes at their touching display, she only had to be patient and everything would be behind her. A nobody, such as a thief couldn’t possibly do what the royal family couldn’t do.

The witch, so consumed by her vain, the witch didn’t notice her fatal mistake before it was too late. Gothel had gotten away with too much in all the time she had been alive. Kidnapping the princess and getting away with it only made the woman vainer.

Neither she or Rapunzel saw Eugene grab the broken piece of glass. Neither saw him slice the hair severing its magical connection.

Gothel could only scream, desperately gathering the fallen hair. As if her begging would bring back the draining magic. The same magic which kept her young for years. She screamed and screamed as the illusion of beauty she worked so hard to maintain faded, matching that of her heart. 

Engulfed in her fear and hideousness, Gothel made her last and most fatal mistake. She pulled her cloak over herself to hide her shame, the truth of herself. She didn’t notice herself staggering so close to the open window. She didn’t notice Pascal holding the cut hair, tripping her.

All that anyone could hear were the screams, the screams of a woman who had run from death, finally being claimed by death. 


	11. Epilogue

“No way there is no way that, that could have happened.” Varian said, crossing his arms giving Eugene a disbelieving stare, “There is no way you could have died, come back to life and found the lost princess. I don’t think that kind of stuff happens in real life. Not all at once at least.” **  
**

Rapunzel and Eugene had traveled to the nearest settlement from the tower. There was too much that had happened and neither wanted to be in the prison for another second. Max was in the stables while Pascal was on Rapunzel's shoulder trying to comfort her. Eugene could sort of see why even if Mother Gothel was a terrible parent she was the only one Rapunzel knew she had for the past eighteen years.

Eugene could admit in hindsight after telling the story, it does sound far-fetched. Magical hair, lost royalty, and dieing isn’t something that just happens. It all feels like a Flynn Rider story come to life only this wasn't a story and this all really happened. Heck even he didn’t believe that Rapunzel was the actual lost princess of Corona. Eugene had only found this out when Rapunzel had told them of the time when she was with Mother Gothel after she came back to the tower.

Although you wouldn't know it, it made an odd amount of sense. Everyone knew about the King’s personal quest for the Sundrop. The fabled magical flower which is said to cure any ailment or illness. The Queen's condition at the time was said to have been hopeless, but she got better, only for the princess to be stolen a few hours later. Eugene almost felt foolish for never connecting the dots, even the young woman with her hair bore a remarkable resemblance to the mural in the capital.

The former thief slapped his knee, “Well kid believe what you want but that still doesn’t change the fact that we still have to come to a decision.” Eugene turned to Rapunzel, “So, sunshine what do you want to do now?”

Rapunzel looked at Eugene, that was a good question. What did she want to do now? For eighteen years she had hidden away from the world to stop others from using her magic hair. Only that had all been a lie, not only that her magical healing hair was gone. There was no reason to hide anymore. She was finally free to do what she wanted for the first time in her entire life.

Rapunzel had friends and she can see the world! There was very little stopping her from doing whatever she wanted now that mother, no Gothel was gone. The last few days have been a dream and while she couldn’t be sure of what the future held she knew there was one dream that she needed to be fulfilled. They’ve been waiting for eighteen years for this dream to come true too, and it seems cruel to let them wait any longer.

Pascal chirped giving his own little thumbs up to show that he would support her. Rapunzel took a deep breath, “I want to meet my parents.”

The freed princess didn’t know what the future would hold for her, or even what to expect of this whole new world, but she knew one thing: it only takes a leap of faith. She’ll be brave and hoped to never again hide away from the world, because she isn’t alone. When she was enveloped in the King and Queens embrace she knew that at long last she was finally home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, sorry for the long wait its been awhile but I would like to be the first to state that part one of this series is complete. Thank you all for being with me since this story has started. I hope to have the next part of it out as soon as possible.


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